DA requests joint sitting of Parliament to address electricity crisis

18 November 2021

The DA has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Amos Masondo, to request that they call a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament and invite President Cyril Ramaphosa to address South Africa’s unfolding electricity crisis.

In terms of Rule 7(1)(2) of the Joint Rules of Parliament, “[the] Speaker and the Chairperson […], acting jointly, may call a joint sitting of the Houses when necessary”.

Eskom’s inability to maintain a reliable supply of electricity has effectively subjected the country to rolling blackouts much more frequently than any time in the past 14 years. The electricity crisis has become the single biggest threat to livelihoods and our economy. With millions of South Africans having lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it cannot be business as usual when loadshedding is said to be costing the economy R500 million per stage, per day.

Yet, despite the severity of this crisis both President Ramaphosa and Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, have taken a passive approach to solving the country’s electricity woes. This while the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, has publicly contradicted the President on the country’s policy positions on renewable energy.

It has therefore not only become necessary for Parliament to show leadership in articulating a coherent response to the electricity crisis but the legislature’s constitutional obligation to hold the Executive to account on this issue has never been more urgent.

Should the rolling blackouts continue unabated, investor confidence in South Africa will continue to erode and the ability of our economy to recover from the low growth trap that it is currently ensnared in will be impossible.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 18 November 2021